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Godot vs Unreal Engine

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Godot
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266
+ 1
47
Unreal Engine
374
388
+ 1
34
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Godot vs Unreal Engine: What are the differences?

## Introduction

1. **Programming Language**: One key difference between Godot and Unreal Engine is the programming language. Godot uses its own scripting language called GDScript, which is similar to Python, while Unreal Engine uses C++ or Blueprints, a visual scripting language.

2. **License**: Another important distinction is the licensing model. Godot is released under the MIT license, which allows users to modify the engine as they see fit, without any restrictions. Unreal Engine, on the other hand, is free to use but charges a 5% royalty fee on gross revenue after the first $1 million USD.

3. **Platform Compatibility**: Godot is known for its flexibility in platform compatibility, supporting a wide range of platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, HTML5, and more. Unreal Engine, while also supporting multiple platforms, has a more extensive focus on high-end gaming consoles and VR devices.

4. **Community and Support**: Godot has a smaller but highly active and supportive community, fostering a more personal and community-driven environment for developers. Unreal Engine, backed by Epic Games, offers extensive documentation, tutorials, and a larger community, which can be beneficial for beginners.

5. **Performance and Graphics**: Unreal Engine is renowned for its stunning graphics capabilities and high performance, making it a popular choice for AAA game development. Godot, while not as advanced in terms of graphics, is more lightweight and efficient, making it suitable for smaller game projects or projects with limited resources.

6. **Learning Curve**: Unreal Engine has a steeper learning curve due to its complex interface and extensive feature set, making it more suitable for experienced developers. Godot, with its simpler interface and GDScript language, is considered more beginner-friendly and easier to learn for newcomers to game development.

## Summary

In summary, Godot and Unreal Engine differ in programming language, licensing, platform compatibility, community support, performance, graphics capabilities, and learning curve, catering to different needs and skill levels in game development.
Decisions about Godot and Unreal Engine
norlin
Software Engineer / Game Developer at Norlin Games · | 7 upvotes · 91.2K views
Chose
Unreal EngineUnreal Engine
over
UnityUnity
at

When I started to learn game development, I've tried to use Unity multiple times because it's the most popular option. But never get it worked because of the clunky UI which is very hard to understand for a new user. After some time, I've decided to try UE4 despite there was a lot of rumors that it's "heavy" or requires an AAA team. And suddenly it clicked, everything works as I expecting, UI is clear and much more powerfull, no need to build custom tools to work on the game itself. Blueprints are very helpful for beginners, C++ has a lot of "syntax-sugar" - macroses, a lot of convenient in-engine types for everything. Later while working with Unreal, I've realized it has very consistent roadmap with constant improvements and adding new features. At the same time, each major version update is painless so you can upgrade your project during development to get new features. UE4 is free to use with the full list of features and you only have to pay royalty after getting your first $1 million from the project (and that's just the default case, you can always discuss custom license with an upfront fee, if you want to).

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Arthur Osipyan
Software Engineer at Value Industry · | 2 upvotes · 88.7K views
Chose
UnityUnity
over
Unreal EngineUnreal Engine
in

I chose Unity over Unreal Engine because Unity has a more user friendly UI for beginners looking to learn game development. Additionally, as someone who uses a lot of online resources to learn new languages and tools, I found a lot of tutorials covering game development with Unity as the core engine. This doesn't mean Unreal is not a great choice for game development, I just personally found learning game development much smoother with the amount of resources available with Unity.

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Pros of Godot
Pros of Unreal Engine
  • 14
    Open source
  • 7
    Supports both C++, C# and GDScript
  • 7
    Cross-Platform
  • 7
    Easy to port
  • 5
    Simple
  • 4
    Avaible on Steam For Free
  • 3
    GDScript is Based On Python
  • 11
    C++
  • 6
    Blueprints
  • 5
    PBR
  • 4
    Suitable for any projects
  • 4
    Source Available
  • 3
    Convenient and modern UI
  • 1
    Most Popular Game engine

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Cons of Godot
Cons of Unreal Engine
  • 1
    Harder to learn
  • 1
    Performance in 3D
  • 1
    Need opengl 2.1 / 3.3
  • 1
    Somewhat poor 3D performance and lacks automatic LODs
  • 6
    Heavy
  • 1
    A lot of "heaviness" myths around

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What is Godot?

It is an advanced, feature-packed, multi-platform 2D and 3D open source game engine. It is developed by hundreds of contributors from all around the world.

What is Unreal Engine?

It is a game engine that helps you make games. It is made up of several components that work together to drive the game. Its massive system of tools and editors allows you to organize your assets and manipulate them to create the gameplay for your game.

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What companies use Godot?
What companies use Unreal Engine?
    No companies found
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    What tools integrate with Godot?
    What tools integrate with Unreal Engine?

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    What are some alternatives to Godot and Unreal Engine?
    MonoGame
    It is a free C# framework used by game developers to make games for multiple platforms and other systems. It is also used to make Windows and Windows Phone games run on other systems.
    JavaScript
    JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.
    Python
    Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.
    Node.js
    Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.
    HTML5
    HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.
    See all alternatives

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